Fall 1998

I have been a strong supporter of certification tests for teaching candidates, and continue to be. So, many people were curious about why I rejected Governor Cellucci’s plan to test veteran teachers as a condition of recertification. If the test is valid for incoming teachers, why would it not be useful for discovering weaknesses in(...)

Imagine the following: The Commissioner of Public Health issues a report that a substantial minority of pediatricians are deficient in their understanding of basic anatomy and childhood illnesses. While many of these pediatricians have been working for an average of two decades, the report indicates the very well-being of thousands of children was compromised by(...)

As the high cost of housing started to squeeze families out of desirable suburbs 30 years ago, the state responded with a landmark law that became known by a pointed nickname–the “Anti-Snob-Zoning Act.” The 1969 statute made it easier for developers to win local approval for affordable housing projects and asked every city and town,(...)

It’s a fundamental question, whether the subject is welfare reform, affordable housing, or the minimum wage, but it rarely gets answered to anyone’s satisfaction: How much money does a family need to support itself in Massachusetts? Usually people just guess. A recent study by the Women’s Educational and Industrial Union attempts to do away with(...)

The general public may not have noticed it in the rush of roll calls that marked the end of the legislative session in July, but advocates for the needy sure did. The Legislature passed–and Acting Gov. Paul Cellucci later signed–a bill to provide almost $300 million to preserve and develop affordable housing throughout the state.(...)

Here is a case of journalistic fraud. Some may consider it a minor case. It involves highly questionable practices in the coverage of election-year politics, but it was hardly remarked upon at the time it occurred, which was the middle of August, a full month before the Sept. 15 state primary election. The story in(...)

Over the Bourne Bridge and down Route 151 a few miles, then a stone’s throw from a weathered wood sign bearing the legend “Land of the Wampanoag,” is the stylish studio apartment Donna Wesley, a 43-year-old pharmacy technician, shares with her husband, Stephen, and their cat, Higgins. It’s Cape Cod, all right. But Wesley isn’t(...)

Two years ago, Johnny Ramirez and his family seemed unlikely candidates to become homeowners in a west-of-Boston suburb. They had come to Framingham from the Dominican Republic seven years earlier, still struggled with English, and had limited savings. He worked as a custodian in the local public schools, while his wife, Aurelina, stayed home in(...)

Get a glimpse from the driveway, and you’ll think Tom and Lisa Ragan have it made in Marlborough. They live with their three children in a sprawling clapboard house surrounded by maple trees on more than an acre of land just a short drive from Interstate 495. There’s a swingset on the lawn to one(...)